"Stripsearch" is a song from Faith No More's studio album, '' Album of the Year'', and was set for release as a single in November 1997. Promotional CDs were produced and released and the single was added to radio playlists. However, the release was cancelled as the record company London Recordings decided to release their 1995 cover of "

I Started a Joke "I Started a Joke" is a song by the Bee Gees from their 1968 album ''Idea'', which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the album had to co ...

" by the Bee Gees instead.

Musical style

The song was based on a song written by guitarist Jon Hudson, composed in simple MIDI format, hence the heavy electronic sound.

Music video

The video for "Stripsearch" was filmed in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

during 1997. It was directed by

Philipp Stölzl Philipp Stölzl (born 1967 in Munich) is a German director. He began to direct music videos in the mid-1990s and directed his first feature film in 2002. Life and career Philipp Stölzl was trained as a set and costume designer at the Münchner ...

, based on a screenplay written by

Billy Gould William David Gould (born April 24, 1963 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the bassist of Faith No More. Biography Early years Billy said he is of Hungarian descent from his father's side. ...

. In the video,

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

walks through parts of the city. At about halfway through he arrives at a military checkpoint and stands at the back of a queue also containing the other members of the band. When he reaches the front, he hands over his passport for inspection. The man inspecting it finds something wrong with the papers and calls the guards on Patton, who tries to get away and is pinned to the floor at gunpoint and arrested. The video then shows still images set earlier in the day, highlighting previously unseen details that point to Patton being a criminal.

Reception

Tom Phalen of MTV said in 1997 that, "despite the inherent brutality of the title, tis almost ethereal." ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' wrote that the song had "smooth trip-hop rhythms" and "loose, swoozy guitar that sounds like it was recorded in the middle of Monument Valley." In their review of the 2016 deluxe edition for ''Album of the Year'',

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

praised the "chilled-out paranoia" of the song. Australian radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

ranked it 64th on their annual "

Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the y ...

" list for the year of 1997.

Track list

#"Stripsearch" #"Collision" (Live from Night Town,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

on August 27, 1997) #"The Gentle Art of Making Enemies" (Live from Night Town,

on August 27, 1997) #"Ashes to Ashes" (Live at Phoenix Festival '97 on July 27, 1997)

Charts

Footnotes

{{Authority control Trip hop songs Faith No More songs 1997 singles Songs written by Billy Gould Songs written by Mike Patton Songs written by Mike Bordin Slash Records singles 1997 songs Songs written by Jon Hudson Strip search